Ooh, the Claw!

Enumclaw, Washington: the north gateway to Mt. Rainier. It’s also the city whose Patch site I’m about to begin running. Yay! That means planning out all the content for the week ahead of time and watching for breaking news there. It’s going to be a lot of work, but I’m ready for it. It helps that I spent the last couple of days there, walking the streets and figuring out what’s there. I had only been to Enumclaw once before this summer, and it was on a rainy day with horrible traffic. I’m sure I blogged about this already – I drove there from University Place in rush hour to see Kasey Kahne. I thought the town was a total dump and didn’t understand why it even had a Patch site. But now I do, just from being there when the sun’s out.

On Thursday the 25th, I got out of bed at 3:15 a.m. to be in Enumclaw by 5. A group of ambitious bikers were going to ride around Mt. Rainier National Park, so I took photos and video of their start. Then this weekend, Friday through Sunday, is the street fair, so I did a gallery there this morning. I had technical difficulties with the Patch mobile app posting photos, so I ended up sitting around posting from my computer for awhile. But it all worked out. I was just very frustrated at moments. I’ve made good connections with Enumclaw, though, and I look forward to editing its site.

I haven’t done a whole lot of other things this week. My other adventure was to JBLM again on Tuesday the 23rd to see the dedication of a classroom to a soldier who died in combat in 2012. It was very heartwarming to hear the stories the other soldiers told about him and what a wonderful person he was. Visiting the base wasn’t as stressful the second time – amazing what a little experience does for you. As Brent told me, sometimes it takes time to gain their trust, but once you do, it goes very smoothly. I’m glad to have connections down there, and I hope to keep them.

I’m tired, as usual. I just got back from my friend’s 21st birthday party in downtown Seattle. I’m heading to Renton in the a.m. for Renton River Days, a community festival. Then it’s Belfair on Sunday and the Claw for the work week. After that, we’ll see… I have to start thinking about school soon.